UN ‘continuing its efforts’ on Cyprus problem, Holguin says

The United Nations is “continuing its efforts” on the Cyprus problem, its envoy Maria Angela Holguin said, after she met President Nikos Christodoulides on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York. She also described the meeting as “good” and “constructive”. Christodoulides did not immediately comment after the meeting. The meeting comes amid heightened diplomatic traffic on the Cyprus problem in New York, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan having met both UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, and Burnham, the prime minister of Cyprus’ third guarantor power, having also met Christodoulides. Later this week, Christodoulides is also expected to meet Guterres, while Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman will also meet both Holguin and Guterres. Related Articles • Guterres, Erdogan ‘exchange views’ on Cyprus problem • Erdogan: Turkish Cypriots’ equal international status must be recognised • Breslow stresses US support for Cyprus solution after Erhurman meeting • Erhurman calls for enlarged meeting ‘where success is guaranteed’ • Christodoulides hints at ‘behind-the-scenes’ meetings to make Cyprus problem progress • Rotating presidency ‘an indispensable component of political equality’ Erdogan referenced the Cyprus problem during his address to the general assembly, too, saying that that “the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people” must be recognised. “I call upon the international community to recognise and establish political, diplomatic, and economic relations with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” he said, before adding that “the inhumane isolation to which [the Turkish Cypriots] have been subjected must finally come to an end”. Christodoulides, meanwhile, will speak at the general assembly on Wednesday. Burnham gave his speech late on Tuesday, while Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will address the general assembly on Thursday. No concrete progress on Cyprus problem since Guterres’ visit However, despite the ongoing diplomatic traffic, there has been no concrete progress made on the Cyprus problem since Guterres visited the island in July. Then, he had promised to hold an enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem on the Cyprus problem, involving the island’s two sides, its three guarantor powers, Greece, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, and the UN, “after adequate progress” is achieved on confidence-building measures, the meeting’s methodology and the substance of the talks. Christodoulides and Erhurman have met on three separate occasions since July, but no concrete progress has been achieved in that time, with the sides still in open disagreement over the meaning of political equality, crossing points, and the methodology of the talks. In addition, throughout the summer, initiatives had been taken by the Greek Cypriot side to cancel international events being held by the Turkish Cypriot community, including a children’s football camp organised by FC Barcelona and a music festival in Kyrenia. This prompted Erhurman to warn that such initiatives “undermine trust” between the island’s two sides, stressing last week that “if we wish to move the process forward, it is crucial to create the ‘conducive climate’ mentioned by Guterres”. Christodoulides hints at ‘behind-the-scenes’ meetings Nonetheless, Christodoulides on Monday said that “behind-the-scenes” meetings in New York this week may hold the key to developments occurring on the Cyprus problem. “What I can tell you is that I did indeed mention that we are not ruling out positive developments, because, from the moment we arrived here, we have observed numerous meetings, which I would characterise as behind the scenes, or out of the public eye,” he said. Those meetings, he said, are “aimed at creating the conditions this week, with all involved parties present in New York, for positive developments to occur”. Erhurman, meanwhile, stressed that the Turkish Cypriot side is seeking “a five-plus-one meeting where success is guaranteed in advance through preparatory meetings in Nicosia and negotiations which, in line with our people’s will for a solution, will actually lead us to a resolution this time”, with “five-plus-one” another term for an enlarged meeting. He said that his stance on the prospect of holding such a meeting “echoes the secretary-general’s statements, expressed both after Crans-Montana – that ‘this time must be different’ – and at his recent press conference – that ‘the mistakes of the past must not be repeated’”.